ICYMI: HRSA Announces $15 Million to Improve Maternal Health Care in Rural Communities with Funding Secured by BMHC

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announced $15 million in investments over the next four years to strengthen care, improve maternal health, and reduce disparities in rural communities. The funding will be distributed to awardees through the Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies (Rural MOMS) Program and a new program focused on strengthening maternal care and reducing disparities in the Delta region (within Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee).

The Black Maternal Health Caucus (BMHC) has championed increased funding for the Rural MOMS Program successfully securing $12 million, a $4 million increase, for Fiscal Year 2024.

According to HRSA, the Rural MOMS Program awardees include Mariposa Community Health Center, Nogales, Arizona, and University of Kansas Medical Center Research Institute, Inc., in Kansas City, Kansas. Each awardee will receive start-up funding of almost $4 million over four years to test out new approaches to support, enhance, and expand access to maternal care, including obstetric care, in rural communities. The Rural MOMS Program focuses on a network model-approach to coordinate care across rural hospitals, medical centers, community health centers and rural health clinics.

HRSA’s new Delta Region Maternal Care Coordination Program will expand access and coordination of health care services before, during, and after pregnancy in the Delta region of the South and Midwest. The funding will work to address unacceptable rates of maternal morbidity and mortality in the region. HRSA expects to award up to four cooperative agreements to recipients in the Delta region, totaling approximately $7 million over four years.

As of June 2024, there are 11 organizations currently participating in the Rural MOMS program, and a total of 14 programs in 11 states have been funded since 2019. The program aims to improve maternal health outcomes in these rural areas by collecting data on obstetric services in these hospitals, coordinating longitudinal care, increasing use of telehealth and specialty care, and ensuring stable funding. Read more about the Rural Moms (RMOMS) Program here.

A one-page summary of the Momnibus—which works to address the maternal health care inequities that rural Americans face—including a list of the 181 original House cosponsors, can be found here. Additional information about the individual bills in the Momnibus can be found on the Black Maternal Health Caucus website. 

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